ECB hints at end to ultra-easy monetary policy

FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank left its policies unchanged Thursday but did not mention the possibility of further interest rate cuts in a move that will be interpreted as a first cautious step towards ending its ultra-easy monetary policy.

For now, the ECB kept interest rates and the scope of its large-scale bond-buying program as before.

But while the ECB previously has said it expects interest rates to remain at “present or lower levels” for an extended period of time, its statement Thursday said only that the rates will remain at their “present levels,” dropping the reference to “lower levels.”

The ECB, meanwhile, affirmed that the net asset purchases of €60 billion a month are intended to run until the end of December 2017, or beyond, if necessary.

The change in the ECB’s so-called forward guidance, however subtle, means Thursday’s meeting is one for the history books. The decision may one day be seen as the day the eurozone’s central bank set out on its long road towards policy normalization after almost a decade of firefighting an economic crisis across the bloc.